Mountain bike recommendation for ocassional rider with zero skills?

[EasyRider]

I’m on a loooong waitlist for a new road/touring frame, and after two months with very little movement on the list, I need a project to keep my mind off it. I’ve already built up a bike for long road rides, one for commuting , and a fixed gear/singlespeed, so was thinking a very budget mountain bike build might do the trick.

I’ve commuted by bike almost every day for 15 years, but never got into mountain bikes. I have handling skills but no trail experience. I’d get to use a MTB on local trails maybe once or twice a month. Maybe less. My free time is limited so I don’t need the latest and greatest. I just need something adequate that would be fun to build up and find/choose parts for. Any recommendations?

I’m looking to spend under $200 on a quality used frame, and then completing it with pieces from my parts bin. I’ve got a beater 26″ wheelset, but I’d spring for new tires and a new suspension fork to try to keep the total under $400. I think I could pick up a cheapo 90s frame on eBay for very little $. Would it be hard to find a new sus fork that would work with it, because fork travel distance has changed since the mid 90s? I realize that I could probably find a more modern complete bike for $400 used, but I wouldn’t know what to look for, and I’d like to build it up myself.

Topic

[drevil]

@EasyRider 151397 wrote:

I’m on a loooong waitlist for a new road/touring frame, and after two months with very little movement on the list, I need a project to keep my mind off it. I’ve already built up a bike for long road rides, one for commuting , and a fixed gear/singlespeed, so was thinking a very budget mountain bike build might do the trick.

I’ve commuted by bike almost every day for 15 years, but never got into mountain bikes. I have handling skills but no trail experience. I’d get to use a MTB on local trails maybe once or twice a month. Maybe less. My free time is limited so I don’t need the latest and greatest. I just need something adequate that would be fun to build up and find/choose parts for. Any recommendations?

I’m looking to spend under $200 on a quality used frame, and then completing it with pieces from my parts bin. I’ve got a beater 26″ wheelset, but I’d spring for new tires and a new suspension fork to try to keep the total under $400. I think I could pick up a cheapo 90s frame on eBay for very little $. Would it be hard to find a new sus fork that would work with it, because fork travel distance has changed since the mid 90s? I realize that I could probably find a more modern complete bike for $400 used, but I wouldn’t know what to look for, and I’d like to build it up myself.

For background, I’ve been mountain biking since ’91, worked in a few bike shops (’93-’99), have most tools required for bike building, no kids, and plenty of time. Working on bikes is how I zen out.

OPTION 1: Build yourself

1. In my experience, it’ll be harder to find a decent 26″ shock that fits (ultra) short-travel geometry from a 90s-era MTB. Unless you can find a super cheap 90s frame with a sus fork already on it, I wouldn’t bother going this route.
2. Rigid forks are an option if you don’t have any hand/nerve issues and don’t plan to ride where it’s too bumpy
3. Singlespeed is an option if you don’t mind grunting/walking up hills until you get stronger
4. Don’t forget to factor in the cost of bike tools
5. You might save money… but might not

OPTION 2: Buy complete

1. You’ll be getting a bike that you know will work
2. You’ll save a lot of time
3. You get to try something to see how it’ll feel before sinking money into it
4. Disc brakes of the modern era are 100% better than v-brakes
5. Trickle-down tech. Shifters, derailleurs and drivetrains work a lot smoother nowadays than stuff from 10-20 years ago
6. 29ers roll over stuff better.
7. It’ll be easier to find replacement parts.

Bottom line: if you have tools, patience, and like working on bikes, building up a 90s-era bike might be satisfying. If you value time and want a bike that absolutely will work, buy complete

[EasyRider]

Thanks for the response. I’d like to build it up, and have the tools. It sounds like a 90s frame with a rigid fork, or a more modern hardtail frame I for which I can easily find a new sus fork on are my options. Of the latter, any particular models you’d recommend? I’m 5’7″ so a 29er isn’t appealing. My preference would be for 26″ wheels since I have a pair laying around, but I understand the size is a bit antiquated now.

[ian74]

Sorry to go off the rails here, but the wait list for a special touring/road frame sounds way moire interesting! What are the details on that new toy? Just curious.

[vvill]

I’m a terrible MTBer buuut agree the big wheels roll better and would just say buy complete because of that plus the thing about a fork for 26″, and trickle-down componentry. I’ve had an older 26″ with rigid fork for a while and use it more often than any other bike (as a utility/kid-tower), but I could not believe how much easier and nicer it was to ride a modern 29″ hardtail on the trails. Also… shifters have improved a lot – enough that I upgraded the 26″ to use 10-speed XT.

There does seem to be a reasonable turnover of new MTBs on DC Used Bicycle Marketplace (facebook group) although often seem very high end so waaay out of what I’d spend on a MTB.

I’m fortunate enough to have been able to upgrade my old 26″ MTB (crappy stock fork to rigid, v-brakes to disc, new wheels+drivetrain) and also buy a new 29″ despite rarely MTBing.

[EasyRider]

Elephant NFE

[drevil]

@EasyRider 151410 wrote:

Thanks for the response. I’d like to build it up, and have the tools. It sounds like a 90s frame with a rigid fork, or a more modern hardtail frame I for which I can easily find a new sus fork on are my options. Of the latter, any particular models you’d recommend? I’m 5’7″ so a 29er isn’t appealing. My preference would be for 26″ wheels since I have a pair laying around, but I understand the size is a bit antiquated now.

Just an FYI, at 5’7″, there are many a 29er that will work well for your size. I’m 5’8.5″, and ride either medium or small in 29″ MTBs just fine. As an alternative, 27.5″ wheels have been around for a few years and might offer smaller sizes if that’s a big concern.

Embarrassingly, I am not very familiar with bikes in that price range but you should visit a few bike shops to check their offerings and try them (this is from a guy that owns $600 handlebars :o). I’m good friends with several bike shop owners so I can’t recommend just one :cool::

• The Bicycle Escape in Frederick, MD
• Proteus in College Park, MD
• Bikenetic in Fairfax, Va
• The Bike Lane in Springfield, Va

These are the ones I go to most, but there are plenty out there with excellent reps and service!

[drevil]

@EasyRider 151413 wrote:

Elephant NFE

Wow, nice bike! If you get a 29er mountain bike (with the same wheel endcaps), you could easily swap wheels/tires so long as they fit the Elephant.

[EasyRider]

@drevil 151421 wrote:

Wow, nice bike! If you get a 29er mountain bike (with the same wheel endcaps), you could easily swap wheels/tires so long as they fit the Elephant.

Yah, wheel swapping is a major appeal of the NFE for me. It’ll take 650b/27.5 x 48 or 26″x2.10. Probably 700×32 as well. I’ll start a thread about what parts to hang on that bike this summer. Or fall …

Thanks for the responses everyone. Still taking recommendations for used hardtails to look for, any wheel size.

[jabberwocky]

In that price range, your options will be limited to whatever shows up for sale. But honestly, there isn’t a massive amount of difference in modern hardtails IMO, especially at the low-midrange pricepoint. And your use case doesn’t sound particularly demanding. I’d just snag something cheap thats about your size and build it up.

One option is nashbars alloy frame (26er: http://www.nashbar.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10053_10052_585891_-1___204685 , though note that they have a 29er for the same price). Watch for coupons and sales (which happen frequently). I’ve seen nashbars alloy frames going for 80-100 shipped at times. Not fancy but serviceable.

[EasyRider]

completely forgot about Nashbar! thanks.

[huskerdont]

Yeah, I got a Nashbar road frame for $80 that’s completely serviceable. About 5k on it and no problems yet. Seems no worse than the Soma 650b (mountain) frame I got for ~$500. Just FYI since sometimes Nashbar items seem iffy or have strange incompatibilities.

[hozn]

The budget seems a bit low, for a build-it-yourself geared hard-tail. I think you could build a decent bike for $800-$1000 — with a decent used suspension fork (say ~$250) or a chinese carbon rigid fork. Or maybe you have more of what you need already (brakes, drivetrain, cockpit, etc.)

I picked up a 29er GT Zaskar hardtail frame last year for my MTB build. I got some used SLX brakes and SRAM GX 1x drivetrain. I like grip shift but wanted to stick with 10sp (to save money in other areas like derailleur and cassettes), so that cost me a bit more than if I’d just done an 11sp grip shifter. The build was around $1000, but my Marzocchi fork was a gift …

If I (when I) were building a new mountain bike, I would probably do a 27.5+ setup — and just use a rigid fork. I was running rigid 29er SS previously and honestly that works just fine around here but wasn’t really conducive for me to do the all-day rides (SM100, etc.) so I decided a HT would be more versatile.

But disc brakes are a must IMO. Not only are they so much better, but rim brakes are completely obsolete on mountain bikes. Heck, they’re on their way to obsolescence on road bikes.

If you want to stick the the $400 budget, I’d say to just buy a complete [used] bike. And if you could stretch your budget to $800, you’d get a much nicer bike used than you could build. But building certainly is fun if you know what you want. I’ve never found it to save money, though.

[jabberwocky]

My impression was that EasyRider has most of the parts already, and mostly wants to pickup a frame and fork to hang those parts off of.

Ironically, the suspension fork might be more of a pain than the frame. 26er forks are getting thinner on the ground from what I’ve seen, and most of what you find at lower prices are so junky/blown up that you’re almost better off with a rigid fork instead.

[EasyRider]

@jabberwocky 151469 wrote:

My impression was that EasyRider has most of the parts already, and mostly wants to pickup a frame and fork to hang those parts off of.

Ironically, the suspension fork might be more of a pain than the frame. 26er forks are getting thinner on the ground from what I’ve seen, and most of what you find at lower prices are so junky/blown up that you’re almost better off with a rigid fork instead.

Yes, I had hoped that cheap old frame + parts bin components + new tires and new sus fork = budget joy, but the math doesn’t work because you can’t put a new fork in an old frame. Alternatively, I could go old school frame and rigid fork for real cheap. But I commute on a Trek 950 and the NFE isn’t THAT different, so, meh. I’d want sus fork and discs just to make it different enough from the Trek.

The right thing to do is to double the budget, but I can’t justify it, given how little I’d hit the trails. Thanks for helping me think it through. If I find a steal used, I’ll post it here.

[Author]

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